Suspects Carefully Planned Cynthia Osokogu’s Death – Police

An Ikeja High Court has been told that the murder Miss Cynthia Osokogu was carefully planned and executed.

According to the Investigative Police Officer (IPO), Inspector Joseph Edo, the police later discovered that the accused persons had carefully planned and executed the murder of Osokogu, who they met on Facebook, a social networking site.

The IPO said on Friday while testifying at the resumption of the trial of four persons charged with the murder that the victim was allegedly chained and strangled 25-year-old Osokogu to death at Cosmilla Hotel, FESTAC Town, Lagos, on July 22, 2012.

Four people, Okwumo Nwabufo 33; Olisaeloka Ezike, 23; Orji Osita, 33; and Ezike Nonso, 25, accused of the murder of Cynthia were charged to court by the Lagos State.

Edo, led-in-evidence by the Attorney-General of Lagos State, Ade Ipaye, said that Osokogu was murdered in Room 1C of Cosmilla Hotel, adding that the police began investigations immediately report of the murder was received.

According to Edo, a thorough investigation showed that the second accused (Ezike) was apprehended in Awka, which in turn led to the arrest of the first accused (Nwabufo) at his residence in FESTAC.

Providing some detail of police investigation, Edo said that Nwabufo instructed Ezike to purchase the chain with which they tied the deceased after drugging her with Rophynol tablets, adding that the second accused bought the drug from Osita, a pharmacist and the third accused.

He said the accused ground the tablets into a powder, put it into a pack of Ribena drink and gave Osokogu to drink.

“After we arrested the first and second accused, we checked their mobile phones and saw the correspondence between them,” he said.

According to the IPO, there was a photograph from Ezike confirming that he had purchased the chain, adding that Nwabufo had accused Ezike of strangling Osokogu to death at the Area E Police Command, FESTAC.

His words: “Nwabufor confronted Ezike at the station, saying: `Why did you bring me to the police to arrest me? Why didn’t you tell them you strangled the lady to death?”

The IPO added that Ezike confessed that after killing Osokogu, he placed her international passport on her chest and took pictures of it with his mobile telephone.

“He (Ezike) told us (police) how he transferred the pictures from his BlackBerry to a laptop, and showed us the pictures which were also on the laptop,” the IPO said.

He said that the police also recovered some items belonging to the deceased at Ezike’s residence including an international passport and a driver’s licence issued in the deceased name, a vibrator, jewellery, a pair of shoes and two bags.

The police officer said that the fourth accused (Nonso) was later arrested after he sold one of Osokogu’s Blackberry telephones to a man in Port-Harcourt.

Justice Olabisi Akinlade adjourned the case till July 5 for continuation of trial